Status checked September 1, 2026 · Manual Version 2 is the controlling table used here
A live program with new boundaries
New York's Public Service Commission authorized $5.36 billion statewide for utility energy-efficiency and building-electrification work from 2026 through 2030 (NYS Clean Heat stakeholder slides). The current Clean Heat Program Manual, Version 2, took effect March 5, 2026 (Program Manual v2).
Residential rebates are now limited to one-to-four-family homes (NYSEG program page). Systems supported by Clean Heat must be sized for the home's full heating load (2025 Clean Heat Annual Report). A Weatherized Tier starts September 1, 2026, and utilities must make weatherization a prerequisite by March 1, 2028, although the final 2028 criteria are not yet in the implementation plan (2026–2030 Implementation Plan).
NYSERDA says HEAR incentives are available through EmPower+, but the official material fetched for this review does not establish a 2026 launch status for the separate Home Efficiency Rebates program (NYSERDA IRA FAQ).
The same heat pump can produce six different checks
New York sets fixed project amounts by utility, dwelling type and project category. For a single-family cold-climate air-source heat pump sized for full load with the fossil system decommissioned, current non-DAC amounts run from $8,000 at Central Hudson and Con Edison to $10,000 at National Grid, NYSEG and RG&E. Orange & Rockland pays $9,000. DAC versions can rise to $10,000 at Con Edison and Orange & Rockland, $11,000 at NYSEG and $12,000 at National Grid (Program Manual v2).
Category 2b single-family rebate · full load with fossil decommissioning
Decommissioning matters. At National Grid, removing the old fossil system lifts the non-DAC single-family payment from $6,000 to $10,000 (Program Manual v2). The program also uses a midstream water-heater channel: a qualifying heat-pump water heater can receive $1,250, with separate $50 distributor and $50 installer payments; incentives may be delivered as an instant discount (Program Manual v2; Implementation Plan).
Clean Heat generally caps incentives at 70% of project cost. Central Hudson projects and DAC-specific incentives may reach 85%; the implementation plan also applies an 85% cap to Weatherized Tier and combined heat-pump-plus-weatherization work. A non-pipes-alternative project may receive support covering up to 100% (Program Manual v2; Implementation Plan).
Nearly 100,000 projects in six years
Clean Heat supported 16,898 heat-pump projects in 2025, including 3,194 heat-pump water heaters. Adding 11,710 Long Island Power Authority projects outside Clean Heat brings the statewide 2025 count to 28,608. The utility program issued $208,259,424 in incentives that year (2025 Annual Report).
Full-load space heating accounted for 77% of 2025 projects. Category 2b—full load with decommissioning—alone counted 9,709 projects. Cumulative activity from 2020 through 2025 reached 99,601 projects and $1.278 billion of spending, or 90% of the prior authorization (2025 Annual Report). The contractor network ended 2025 with 1,698 firms enrolled, including 1,421 active contractors (2025 Annual Report).
For some homes, the cost cap matters more than the headline rebate
Assume a $30,000 cold-climate air-source heat-pump conversion, sized for full load, with the old gas boiler removed. National Grid's Category 2b DAC amount is $12,000 and the cost cap is 85% (Program Manual v2).
$30,000 project − $12,000 Clean Heat = $18,000 household net
At a $14,118 project, 85% equals about $12,000, leaving roughly $2,118. That is where the cap rather than the fixed-dollar table determines the check.
The income-based layer is larger but less simple. EmPower+ provides no-cost low-income improvements capped at $12,000 upstate or $14,000 downstate, while moderate-income work is supported at 50% up to $6,000 or $7,000. Sustainable Futures can add $10,000 for an air-source heat pump (NYSERDA EmPower+). HEAR can add up to $14,000 per dwelling unit, including up to $8,000 for a heat pump, and can cover up to 100% of eligible project cost for qualifying households (NYSERDA IRA FAQ).
Do not treat $38,000 as a guaranteed stack. Adding the published EmPower+ downstate cap, Sustainable Futures air-source adder and maximum HEAR benefit produces a theoretical $38,000, but the fetched rules do not confirm that every layer—and a Clean Heat utility rebate—can all pay the same measure. NYSERDA's own confirmed example is $10,000 of ratepayer funding plus up to $14,000 of HEAR, or $24,000 (NYSERDA IRA FAQ). A contractor and program administrator should validate the stack before a household signs a contract.
Rates can change the operating side too. The implementation plan reports that 86% of Con Edison heat-pump customers on SC1 Rate IV saw total annual electricity bills fall between January 2023 and October 2024, by roughly $1,000 on average (Implementation Plan). That is a program-specific result, not a universal savings promise.
Bottom line
New York's program is funded for a new cycle, but “the New York rebate” does not exist as a single number: the current utility table varies by territory, geography, decommissioning and dwelling type, then applies a project-cost cap. Income-qualified households should enter through EmPower+ and ask for a written stacking determination; the official $24,000 example is defensible, while a $38,000 package is only a theoretical ceiling until the rules for the specific project are confirmed.
Participation documents
- Clean Heat rebate finderStart by utility territory.
- Program Manual v2Current incentive tables and rules.
- Application resourcesOfficial forms and contractor materials.
- 2026–2030 Implementation PlanWeatherization, caps and rate design.
- EmPower+Income-based benefits and Sustainable Futures adders.
- EmPower+ eligibilityIncome and participation screening.